Are there diminishing returns of keyword stuffing domain names?
-
Aside from the obvious usability issue of having a super long domain name. Let's just for a moment image that that doesn't matter at all.
Is there a point at which having another keyword in your domain name is not giving a significant boost to SER?
Lets be more specific. Often we see two keyword domains, and they rank well. and I have also seen many 3 keyword domains raking well. but what about a 4, 5 or 6 keyword domain name?
like:
keyword1keyword2keyword3keyword4keyword4keyword6.com <-- obviously it looks ridiculous, but we are ignoring that factor for the duration of this question.
I would also like to know in multiple keyword domain names, does the location of the keywords have any relevance? is it like title tags? closer to the front = more boost?
And furthermore one last question on the same subject. Does google consider varations of words when it gives the boost to "exact match" domain name in search results. for example: BookStory.com V.S. BookStories.com when someone searches for "story books" would these two get the same bonus?
-
Straight from the horses mouth, checkout this video from Google's Matt Cutts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAWFv43qubI
Importantly: "Now if you are still on the fence, let me just give you a bit of color. that we have looked at the rankings and the weights that we give to keyword domains, & some people have complained that we are giving a little too much weight for keywords in domains. So we have been thinking about at adjusting that mix a bit and sort of turning the knob down within the algorithm, so that given 2 different domains it wouldn't necessarily help you as much to have a domain name with a bunch of keywords in it."
-
Keyword domains work best for exact matches. For example: BrassWidgets.com will get a ranking bonus for "brass widgets".
If you add another word like "RedBrassWidgets.com" you lose almost all of the ranking advantage for "Brass widgets"
Singular and plural make a big difference. Remember, they are best for exact match queries and as soon as you depart from that they really decline in ranking value - unless you earn the ranking by normal methods.
These are my opinions based upon owning a few keyword domains and competing with them for a very large number of queries.
I haven't done any scientific studies and I have not read anyone who is going to put numbers on these concepts.
-
With Google's continuing focus on usability and user experience coming into their ranking algorithems more and more you would expect they would give less weight to product-feature1-feature2-feature3.com than product.com. The fact they are gearing up to show performance in analytics data suggest that usability in gaining in importance as is social significance. How many people do you think with use up most of their tweet with your url?
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Migration to a new domain
Hi everyone, So i have one project where I'm planning to move current content on new domain, two reasons: 1. It seems current domain has some google penalty (backlink related, not manual) 2. Client wants rebranding and already has domain with new brand name. So as content is high quality and there is no content related penalty from google, what would be the best way to migrate existing content without passing any penalty AND without Google treating it as duplicate content. If i do 301 i suspect any penalty there is might follow, if i just copy existing content it won't be original content, what is the best solution here? Thanks
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | joelsemy0 -
Keyword Rich Domain
We purchased a keyword rich domain name to use with an existing website. What is the best way to use this domain? Below are some thoughts, I welcome any input. Use this domain as an add-on to the main domain, but only have it load one page off the main domain? Would that cause duplicate content issues? Create a single static page of content for the domain (separate from main domain) Redirect domain to page on master domain, would we loose any benefits of the keyword rich domain? Thank you!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | idlwebinc0 -
How to get more keyword ideas
I am trying to get more keyword ideas for one of my project. For example the seed keyword is computer virus and the results which i get is keywords related to the phrase computer virus such as virus in computer , virus threats but actually i am trying to get search details on actual threat names or types of viruses and i expect output such as malware, trojan etc.. ( Currently using ad words keyword planner to fetch keyword data ) Is there any way to achieve this ? Even if i use "types of computer viruses" as seed keyword i am not getting the types of viruses people searching for instead i get keywords ideas such as computer viruses, computer threats etc... ? Can somebody suggest a solution ?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | NortonSupportSEO0 -
Domain Authority
Hi I wanted to find out if anyone knew how to discover why DA may have dropped? Ours has gone from 26 to 25 - I know it's not much, but I wanted to find the reason. One thing which happened was our developer company wiped redirects, which did impact rankings - would this also have affected domain authority or do I need to review our backlinks again? Thank you
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | BeckyKey1 -
Redirecting Domain / Maintaining Keyword Ranking
Right now we have two sites: "our-company.com" and "cool-widgets.com." We rank high for "cool widgets" searches due to our keyword-friendly URL, but we're merging everything into our newly-redesigned company site. Should we redirect the old "cool-widgets.com" homepage to "our-company.com" (to directly transfer the old PR and links), or would it be more prudent to redirect the old homepage to "our-company.com/cool-widgets" to keep the "cool widgets" keyword in the URL? This option seems like it would be good for maintaining organic search results, but it wouldn't pass the strong link backbone to the new site's homepage.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | versare0 -
Keyword Selection - Long Tail or not long tail keyword
Hi Friends, We have a keyword "plus size clothing" but we used this as "plus size clothing 2012" to Cover the both keywords "Plus size clothing" and "Plus size clothing 2012" My question is, are we still focusing on "plus size clothing" when use "plus size clothing 2012" instead of the main keyword.? What strategy do yo suggest that when to use long tail and when to not. (when I talk to use a long tail than it means use it prominently on the page as main keyword should be used.)
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | alexgray0 -
New domain, and Local Service, Moderate Keyword
Hi all i have a new client, who has bought a shiny new domain name for his business, it has one keyword in it related to his business. He is a local plastering looking to get his site ranked, but my worry is the domain age, its very new less than 2 months, i know google sandboxes new domains, The term he is targeting is Mod Completive (26%) is getting his domain ranked page one within 6 months a possibility, or will it just seem utterly spammy in googles eyes. Any tips please thanks will
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Will_Craig0 -
Exact match domain names
Hello, Someone approached a client of mine to sell a exact match domain name for a very competitive and high converting keyword. Would this be of any use and what are the best tactics to employ if it is purchased? I was of the opinion that the 'power' of exact match domain names are dying fast but would be interested to hear what people with experience in this think and what they have done with them (i.e. set-up a website on that domain or re-directed it)? Thanks, Rikki
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | RikkiD220